Sliver coiler



M y 17, 1960 c. w. WALTER 2,936,496

SLIVER COILER Filed April 22, 1959 l6 1 I7 I Ll I 1 WW ///I 9/ I5 4 FIG. 3

)NVENTOR CHARLES W. WA TER Emma 7%.

ATTORNEY United States Patent SLIVER COILER Charles W. Walter, Griflin, Ga., assign'or to Southern States Equipment Corporation, a corporation of Georgia Application April 22, 1959, Serial No. 808,175

4 Claims. (Cl. 19-159) This invention relates to sliver coilers and more particularly to coilers using large cans provided with rollers or the like to facilitate bodily movement of the cans and their contents from one position to another and is an improvement on the invention disclosed and claimed in application Serial Number 744,510 filed June 25, 1958 now US. Patent 2,916,780 and assigned to the assignee of this invention.

It is customary to move sliver cans from place to place as a routine procedure in textile mills. Frequently the cans are moved manually by an operator who simply slides the cans along the floor in groups of five or six cans. The trend toward cans of larger and larger diameters results in substantial increases in the weight of the cans, particularly when filled with sliver. Thus with heavier cans to handle, it is becoming more and more difficult for an operator to move the cans about, especially where a particular operation requires him to slide a group of several cans along the floor. In some instances it is necessary for the operator to reduce the number of cans moved simultaneously in a group and by so doing partially to defeat the purpose of using larger cans.

A principal object of this invention is to provide an improved coiler having a can mounted on rollers and having a dual purpose platform arranged to receive and to position the can properly as well as to hold the can securely in place while a coiling operation is effected, the platform being adapted to cooperate with cans of conventional type which are not equipped with rollers.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an improved platform for .slivercoilers wherein improved roller holding means are arranged to. engage the can rollers and wherein means are provided for engaging the flange of a conventional coiler can which is not provided with rollers so as to hold such a can in its proper position on the coiler platform.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a coiler platform which may be used with conventional cans or with cans having rollers without requiring any adaptation.

The invention in one form comprises a coiler platform having a plurality of rollers holding means together with a plurality of roller guide means arranged to engage the can rollers and to guide them into cooperative engagement with the roller holding means and a plurality of can positioning means for locating and holding a conventional coiler can not having rollers in position on the platform.

The invention will be better understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side view of a coiler having a wheel mounted can; in which Fig. 2 is a plan view of a coiler platform constructed according to this invention, in which Fig. 3 is an enlarged view partially in section taken along the line 33 of Fig. 2 and depicting a wheel mounted can on the platform of the coiler; and in which Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view 2,936,496 Patented May 17, 1960 taken along line 4-4 as indicated in Fig. 2 depicting a can without wheels mounted on the platform.

With reference to Fig. 1, the numeral 1 designates a coiler base on which a pedestal 2 is securely aflixed in conventional fashion. Mounted atop the-pedestal Z is a coiler head generally designated by the numeral 3. A can 4 is positioned on rotatable platform 5. As is well understood in the art, suitable mechanism is disposed within the pedestal 2 for imparting rotary motion to platform 5 and in addition to impart suitable motion to a sliver fed into the top of the head 3 whereby the sliver is coiled in a predetermined pattern within the can 4.

As can be seen in Fig. 1, the can 4 is provided with a plurality of rollers 6.

The rotatable platform 5 is constructed so as to hold the roller mounted can 4 in position on the platform and so as to enable an operator readily to position the can 4 in its proper centered relation on the rotatable platform 5. To this end and as best shown in Fig. 2, the platform 5 is provided with a plurality of holding means generally designated by the numeral 7. These holding means 7 may constitute an abrupt abutment 8 together with an inclined surface 9, the abutment 8 and inclined surface 9 being shown enlarged in Fig. 3. It will be understood that it may be possible or desirable to eliminate the inclined surface 9 or the abutment 8. .Also the surface 9 and abutment 8 could take the form of a simple recess for receiving each can roller. As is indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, the direction of the rotation of the platform 5 is clockwise. Thus the abutments 8 are disposed on the side of the holding means 7 which is opposite from the direction of rotation of the rotatable platform 5. In this mannerthe rollers of the can engage the abutments 8 and are securely held thereagainst as the can rotates against the frictional drag effect of the sliver being coiled. Inclined surfaces 9 are disposed on the part of holding means 7 which is in thedirection of rotation of the platform. Of course the purpose of the inclined surfaces 9 is to allow the can to be gradually lowered from the main portions 10 of the platform face into engagement with abutments 8.

For the purpose of guiding the rollers into proper engagement with the abutments 8 forming a part of the holding means 7, i.e., in order properly to center the can 4 on the rotatable platform 5, the outer guides 11 are provided. In addition, the inner guides 12 are also provided in spaced relation to the outer guides 11. Thus with the can positioned in approximately its correct position on the platform 5 rotary motion is imparted to can 4 manually in a counter clockwise direction relative to the platform 5 and causes each of the rollers to ride between one of the outer guides 11 and its associated inner guide 12 and thereby causes each roller to assume its position within one of the holding means 7.

As is shown in Fig. 2, the platform 5 may be secured in place by bolts 5D and the inner guides 12 may be provided with guide ribs 12A which extend into the center SF of the platform 5 where they adjoin. By the construction of Fig. 2 the rollers are positively guided irrespective of the particular initial relation between can 4 and platform 5 as the can is placed on the platform so long as one or more rollers is in engagement with the platform.

If desired, the rollers 13 may be mounted on a yoke 14 by a shaft 15 and the yoke may be connected by a swivel pin (not shown) to a mounting plate 16 which in turn is welded or otherwise secured to a frame 17 mounted within the bottom flange of the can 4 as disclosed and claimed in application Serial Number 808,213 filed April 22, 1959 and assigned to the assignee of this invention.

For the purpose of rendering the platform 5 adaptable for use with friction mounted coiler cans which are not equipped with rollers, the platform is provided with can positioning means or elements 11A which may be arcuate in shape and which engage the inner surface of the can flange 4A, as is best shown in Fig. 4.

Thus by this invention a coiler platform is rendered readily usable with rollers or with conventional cans.

While a certain specific form of the invention has been shown and described it is not intended that the invention be limited thereto and it is intended in the appended claims to cover all changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is:

l. A platform for coilers comprising a substantially circular plate having a generally flat upper plane surface, a plurality of holding means disposed about said plane surface at substantially equal distances from the center thereof and angularly spaced from each other by substantially equal angles, a plurality of guide means formed respectively adjacent said holding means and arranged respectively to engage the rollers of a roller mounted coiler can and to guide such rollers into cooperative engagement with the associated holding means in response to relative rotary motion between said platform and the can while being mounted thereon, and can positioning means on said plane surface and disposed substantially symmetrically relative to the center of said platform, said can positioning'means being engageable with a part of a friction mounted can disposed on the platform.

2. A platform for coilers comprising a substantially circular plate having a generally flat upper plane surface, a plurality of holding means disposed about said plane surface at substantially equal distances from the center thereof and angularly spaced from each other by substantially equal angles, a plurality of guide means formed respectively adjacent said holding means and arranged respectively to engage the rollers of a roller mounted coiler can and to guide such rollers into cooperative engagement with the'associated holding means in response to relative rotary motionibetween said platform and the can while being mounted thereon, and can positioning means on said plane surface and disposed substantially symmetrically relative to the center of said platform, the radial distance of said can positioning means from the center of said platform being greater than the radial distance of said holding means from the center of said platform, said can positioning means being engageable with a part of a friction mounted can disposed on the platform.

3. A coiler platform comprising a substantially circular plate having a generally flat upper plane surface, a plurality of holding means disposed about said plane surface at substantially equal distances from the center thereof and angularly spaced from each other by substantially equal angles, said holding means being arranged to engage corresponding casters secured to a caster mounted coiler can at the bottom thereof so as to hold the can in position on said platform, a plurality of guide ribs formed on said plane surface of said platform, each rib being generally arcuate and extending from the center of said platform to one of said holding means for engaging and guiding one can caster into cooperative engagement with the associated holding means during mounting of the can on the platform, and can positioning means on said plane surface and disposed substantially symmetrically relative to the center of said platform, the radial distance of said can positioning means from the center of said platform being greater than the radial distance of said holding means from the center of said platform, said can positioning means being engageable with the bottom flange of a friction mounted can disposed on the platform.

4. A coiler platform comprising a substantially circular plate having a generally fiat upper plane surface, a plurality of holding means disposed about said plane surface at substantially equal distances from the center thereof and angularly spaced from each other by-substantially equal angles, said holding means being arranged to engage corresponding casters secured to a coiler can at the bottom thereof so as to hold the can in position on said platform, a plurality of guide ribs formed on said plane surface of said platform, each r-ib being generally arcuate and extending from the center of said platform to one of said holding means for engaging and guiding one can caster into cooperative engagement with the associated holding means during mounting of the can on the platform, and a plurality of can positioning elements disposed symmetrically about said plane surface of said platform, each of said elements being adjacent one of said holding means and at a greater distance from the center of the platform, said can positioning elements being engageable with the bottom flange of a friction mounted can disposed on the platform.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

